Chapter Thirteen: Encounter on the Road

  At the end of the month, at the school sports meeting, Ning Qingmin won third place in the 3,000-meter run and received a prize of 500 yuan. She used the prize money to enroll in an "English Oral Intensive Class", which has three classes per week.

  "Your English isn't bad, why do you still want to take an intensive class?" Zhou Ling was puzzled. "I thought you would use this money to buy a new pair of glasses first."

  "I'll take a look at the English materials, but if I really have to talk to foreigners, I'm afraid I'll be speechless. After all, language is about listening and speaking, getting high scores on exams isn't enough." Ning Qing put down her glasses, wiped them with a cloth, and let out a sigh, "I'll get new glasses during the New Year's holiday."

  Mo Xiao Hong saw Ning Qing Mian taking off her glasses and looking in the mirror, and she chuckled behind her back: "Qing Mian, your complexion has improved a lot recently. If you didn't wear these old-fashioned glasses, you could even call yourself a beauty."

  Ning Qingmin looked at herself in the mirror, her eyes were no longer puffy, her slender eyes had a bit of spirit, her lips had some color, and she looked much brighter overall.

  "Qing Min, actually you have a good figure. If you're bolder, wear something like a tight skirt, who knows it might be more appealing." Mo Xiao Hong continued to observe Ning Qing Min and sighed: "I wish I was as thin as Qing Min."

  "She's malnourished, a refugee from all of Africa!" Zhou Ling splashed cold water.

  Ning Qing smiled slightly and didn't respond. She put on her glasses and tied a light purple silk scarf with small checks around her neck.

  "Wow, not bad, this scarf really adds a lot of color to you." Mo Xiao Hong walked over and touched the scarf, "Is this the one from the fabric market across from the school's main gate? It looks much better tied around your neck than it did in your hand."

  "Big discount, two for just fifteen yuan, and it looks good when tied up." Zhou Ling took out an identical scarf, walked in front of the mirror, tied the scarf, and smiled: "Qingmin wears casual clothes, and it's great to tie them diagonally. I wear a white shirt, so I'll just tie a red neckerchief style."

  Wu Meimei was cutting a lemon and applying the juice to her face where she had acne, saying annoyedly: "Since I got these damn pimples, the term 'beauty' doesn't apply to me anymore. Who's ever seen a beauty with a face full of pimples? But Qingmian has become more confident lately, although she's not considered a beauty yet, she really does have the demeanor of one."

  Beauty? Ning Qing thought of Li Mingna with a hint of disdain. Now that's what you call a beauty. If you compare the innocent Zhou Ling to her, she's like a red cherry, while Zhou Ling is just a green apple.

  "Alright, alright. After so long, I really want to see a flower bloom on my face?" Zhou Ling collected her textbooks and shouted: "You guys said you'd arrive at the library early to grab seats. Now everyone's dragging their feet and not moving."

  "Wow, it's so late!" Ning Qingming glanced at his watch. He hastily gathered his things and shouted: "Tonight is the first English intensive class. Can't be late!" He quickly grabbed his textbooks and rushed out of the door, dashing down the stairs.

  Ran for a while. A black classmate ran past beside me. Slowed down slightly and smiled, nodding his head. Ning Qingmin remembered that sometimes he would meet him during morning runs. He heard that the other was an international student, but didn't know which department he belonged to. International students usually prefer Beijing for their studies, choosing Guangzhou is rare. Precious things are scarce, so the black classmate received great courtesy.

  "It's so late. Are you still learning how to run away?" The black classmate flashed a set of pearly whites, just like in a toothpaste commercial for blacks. He spoke perfect Mandarin, but his word choice was clearly off. "Running" became "running away".

  "I didn't do anything wrong. It's not that bad, I don't have to run away." Ning Qing said with a smile. Slowing down his pace, he said: "I'm going to an English intensive class. Afraid of being late, so I ran here."

  "Oh, I'm going to the Chinese intensive class too, and I'm also afraid of being late, so I'm running." The black classmate waved his textbook in his hand with a smile, "It turns out that when you're moving quickly, you should say 'run', not 'walk'. Walking refers to slow movement."

  Ning Qing's eyes widened in surprise as he stared at his black classmate, "You're so perceptive! I just mentioned it and you've already figured out the difference between running a race and running on the road."

  "No way, I was born this smart!" The black classmate winked, "You want to strengthen your English, and I want to strengthen my Chinese. Why don't we exchange dormitory phone numbers and learn from each other?"

  "Great, great!" Ning Qing hastily stopped in his tracks, tore off a sheet of paper, wrote down his phone number and name, and handed it to the black classmate. He was overjoyed at the prospect of practicing English with a real foreigner, and his oral English would improve rapidly, just wait and see.

  The black classmate handed over the phone and name, Ning Qingming took a look, the black classmate's real name was Adam, his Chinese name was Xiaoming, he couldn't help but cover his mouth and laugh secretly, wondering who helped him get such a funny name.

  "What are you laughing at? I know, it must be my Chinese name." Adam smiled, "When I first came, I could only write a few Chinese characters, I could write small, day, month. When taking a Chinese name, I thought about taking one that I can write myself, so I took the name Xiaoming."

  At the fork in the road, Adam pointed to the left and said: "I'm this way, how about you?"

  "I'm on the right!" Ning Qingming waved at Adam and rushed forward.

  "Ning Qingmin, where are you going?" The intersection was lined with dense Chinese parasol trees, and the moonlight filtered through the sparse gaps in the trees, casting dappled shadows on the ground, making a young man appear vaguely under the trees.

  The voice was like a spell, Ning Qingmin involuntarily stopped in his tracks and looked up at the young man under the tree, Guo Shangliang.

  Who is he waiting for? Li Mingna? Have they started yet?

  "Last time at the sports meet, I saw you came in third in the long-distance running. What's this, running again tonight?" Guo Shangliang walked out from under the trees and took a look at Ning Qingmian. The night wind lifted her silk scarf, and the corner of it gently brushed against her chin. Compared to the last time they met, she seemed to be in much better spirits, and he couldn't help but smile as he said: "You're looking much better. When you have some free time, give your big brother a call and report on your own affairs, don't always make me pass on messages."

  "Alright." Ning Qingming glanced at Guo Shangliang, looked away, and restrained her desire to take a closer look at him. "I have class now."

  Guo Shangliang just saw Ning Qingming holding a textbook and asked: "What class is this?"

  "English Intensive Class!"

  "I have a lot of English materials there, you can come to my dormitory when you're free and take a look at the useful ones. Take them away and use them." Guo Shangliang glanced at his watch and reminded him: "After class, walk with your classmates together, don't walk alone on one side."

  "Hmm!" Ning Qing's nose felt a bit sour, she waved her hand and hastily left.

  Ning Qingmin rarely initiates conversations with boys, and in high school, she was even more silent. With her dull appearance and aloof demeanor, boys didn't dare approach her unless necessary. It wasn't until college that Guo Shangliang, entrusted by Fang Pinhui, had to occasionally ask about Ning Qingmin's well-being and show some concern. This faint, gentle concern from the opposite sex warmed Ning Qingmin's heart, which had lacked paternal love since childhood, causing her to be like a moth to flame, knowingly taking a path of no return, yet still throwing herself in with abandon.

  Sorry about the late update today! Also, it's going to be pushed down the new book charts and become invisible!